Finding the right balance between work, family and life can be very challenging. In the past, I have found this to be very difficult and admittedly had the balance wrong.

Why Do You Work?

The first questions to ask yourself is “why do you work?”. Sometimes life gets in the way and we forget to ask this very critical question.

The most obvious answer to this is financial reasons. But that may not be the only one. Maybe you just love your job and it’s your passion. Maybe it’s both. Whatever the reason is, spend some time thinking about it. Because once you know the answer you can decide how much time you need to dedicate to it.

And that’s the key. You need to determine your priorities is life first, then you know how much time to dedicate to each one.

Finding the Balance

So, if you are not married, have no kids and love your job. Sure, this would be fine for your job to take up a large portion of your life.

On the other hand, if you have a family of five, is it wise to spend so much time at work? Sure you might need the money but have a good think. Do you really need the money, or do you just want more luxuries in life? Because those luxuries are a trade of family time.

I’m not trying to say what is right or wrong. Just trying to make it clear that to find the right work/play balance it always comes down to trade-offs. So you need to find the right balance that suits you and your loved ones (whoever that may be).

Don’t Copy Me

For me, when my children were young, I got this balance wrong. Now I sit back to reflect on the mistakes I made in the past. Now I want to educate others and my own children how to make their own decides and hopefully not make the same mistakes I made. This is very real for me now as my eldest son start his career as an Electrician in Swan Hill. When you’re young and enthusiastic, with very few commitments, the work/play balance is less important. But as you get older and start a family, it becomes a very real issue. Hopefully, my son can learn from my mistakes.

Finding time to exercise can also help the balance of your life. So read my article on exercise here.

Finding that balance is never easy, but once you have found it, the rewards in your life will be worth it.

2

Time to Get Fit

To me, getting fit is not just about going to the gym and working out. It about having an active life.

So today I’m going to share with you some great ideas to implement when trying to get fit.

Determine Your Goals

So the first step is to ask yourself, “the why”. Why do you want to get fit? This is a totally personal reason and it will be different for different people. So be honest with yourself about the reasons.

Just to get you start, I have come up with a few different reason someone might what to get fit. Don’t worry you can have multiple reasons, but you might be what to prioritise them.

Health – you want to keep your body healthy. Keeping fit and exercise is a great what to improve your overall health.

Lose Weight – for many their weight has gotten way from them so they just want to start feeling good about themselves again.

Social – Beleive it or not but exercising can be a great social activity. If you decide to work outside your own lounge room, there is a fair chance you will meet other people. It can be a great way of meeting new friends and can make the task of exercising more enjoyable.

Mind – Yes exercise can a great way to improve your brain’s memory and thinking skills. You can read more about at Harvard Medical School.

Of course you will have other reason to get fit and exercise but hopefully, this has just got you kick started.

Start with Baby Steps

So you have made the decision to exercise. Going full in and crazy might not be the best idea. It may work for you but it definitely hasn’t worked for me and many others.

Now, what do you call full in and crazy? Well, this will be different for everyone. If you have never performed daily exercise before, it may not be a good idea to go for a one hour run every day, to start with. On the other hand, if you play football each week and decide to get even fitter, then this might not be out of the question.

The problem with going all in too early is you will burn yourself out. Sure day 1 will be ok. You get by on day 2. But by day 3 & 4, your motivation starts to wear off. Although you started out with good intentions, it can be hard to keep the motivation going.

This is why is best to just start off slowly and gradually work your way into it.

Be Discipline

Now you have set some goes and have a plan on how to get started. You need to be disciplined with yourself.

You can always make up 100 excuses as to why not to exercise. But try to change your mindset to come up with reason to go exercise, as opposed to reasons not to exercise.

Integration of Life and Fitness

Becoming fit and exercising does not always have to be a strict regiment. I like to think about having an active life. Rather than lazing around all day, then exercise for an hour, then lazy around again. I much rather be active all day.

Some examples of thing you could be doing when not actually in an exercise routine are:

- Take the dog for a walk.

- On a hot day instead of lounging in the pool, swim some laps.

- Do stretches when watching TV at night time.

- Ride your bike to work.

- Play tennis with the kids instead of playing a video game with them.

- Get a standing desk at work rather than sitting down all day.

- Do some push-ups while you're waiting for tea to cook.

Obviously, these will not be for everyone but it’s more of a mindset change than anything. Instead of making excuses to do nothing, try to find reasons to be active. You will feel better about yourself and be more energised as a result.

Hope this exercise tips helped. If you want to find out ways to eat better read this.

4

Eat Less but Better

For years, I’ve wanted to improve my eating habits. I’ve always had good intentions but couldn’t find the willpower needed to cut out those bad eating habits. Today I want to share with you some changes I’ve made that have had dramatic improvements in my eating habits.

Be Discipline in the Supermarket not in the Pantry

The packet of Maltesers are sitting right in the middle of the pantry. “No, I must not eat that”, I would say. So, I move them to the top of the pantry. “No, I must not eat that”. But temptation always gave into willpower and before long the Maltesers packet is open. Then half gone. Then gone. Oh well, they taste so nice anyway.

It doesn’t matter how hard I try, once that food is in the pantry, it will be eaten. I mean what is the purpose of food in a pantry if it’s not to be eaten?

And that’s the key, don’t let it make it to the pantry. Be Discipline in the Supermarket.

It’s still not easy. I still want to go down the chocolate aisle and grab that block of Cadbury Milk Chocolate. But it much easier to not buy it, than buy it and not eat it. It sounds so obvious, once you have purchased it, of course, you are going to eat it.

So once in the Supermarket, fire up that willpower and be discipline.

Making this mindset change was huge. So now when I go shopping, I focus on only buying health options.

Buy Real Food

Lot’s of fruit and vegetables. I try and find a nice balanced diet. Remember the food pyramid that was taught in school. That’s how I approach it. Simple balanced diet. Nothing fancy.

I don’t go crazy on all the latest health trends, diet foods or health shakes.

I just love eating real food. Unprocessed, natural food.

I don’t look at the nutrition label. Counting calories or looking at the sugar content. I just buy real food. If your grandma would eat it or bake it, it’s good enough for me.

Feel Better

I now feel more energised and alive than ever before. I hope you like these tips. I will continue writing more on this subject. Keep checking my home page for new posts.